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Academy Awards success for Aussies

[Mon 28/02/2011 02:28:51]

By Amanda Diaz

It seems the Academy Award drought is over, with Aussies taking home four Oscars today, including Best Picture for The King's Speech.

The film's Sydney-based producer Emile Sherman praised its financiers for daring to take a chance.

"It's not an obvious film to back," he said.

Sherman also acknowledged local distribution company Transmission Films in his acceptance speech.

Director Tom Hooper thanked Geoffrey Rush and Colin Firth for being part of his "triangle of man love."

Rush, considered Australia’s best hope for an acting gong for his role in The King’s Speech, was beaten out for Best Supporting Actor by Christian Bale (The Fighter).

Jacki Weaver and Nicole Kidman missed out on Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress, losing to Melissa Leo and Natalie Portman respectively.

Although unlucky in the acting categories, local talent performed well in the technical awards.

Melbourne-based artist Shaun Tan won Best Animated Short Film for The Lost Thing. The Oscar was presented to him by Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis.

"Our film is about a creature that doesn't get any attention so this is quite ironic," Tan said.

The short also won an IF award last November.

Dave Elsey, in a team with Rick Baker, won Best Makeup for their work on horror film The Wolfman.

“Crikey,” said Elsey when accepting the award.

Former Sydneysider Kirk Baxter was awarded Best Editing for The Social Network alongside colleague Angus Wall.

The King's Speech and Inception dominated the ceremony, receiving four awards each.

The 83rd Academy Awards was hosted by James Franco and Anne Hathaway. See below for a full list of the winners.

2011 Academy Award Winners:

Best Art Direction – Alice in Wonderland

Best Cinematography- Inception

Best Supporting Actress- Melissa Leo, The Fighter

Best Animated Short- The Lost Thing

Best Animated Feature- Toy Story 3

Best Adapted Screenplay- The Social Network

Best Original Screenplay- The King’s Speech

Best Foreign Language Film – In A Better World

Best Supporting Actor – Christian Bale, The Fighter

Best Original Score – The Social Network

Best Sound Mixing- Inception

Best Sound Editing- Inception

Best Makeup- The Wolfman